Lawyer Network News

Saskatchewan Lawyer News

Saskatoon police officer submits a not guilty plea to obstruction of justice

Posted Nov 20, 2014 on globalnews.ca

Saskatoon defence lawyer Brad Mitchell has submitted a not guilty plea for his client, Const. Steven Nelson, who has been accused of trying to obstruct justice.

Nelson, a member of the Saskatoon Police for nine years, allegedly misplaced a statement made in a case of domestic violence.

It has been said however, that Nelson is not familiar with any person involved in that domestic case, wherein a charge has already been filed.

Mitchell said the charge that his client is facing is a serious one and will severely affect his employment.

With the not guilty plea, Nelson is expected to stand trial for two days in April.

Following the filing of the charge in October, Nelson is on suspension but with pay.

Lawyer says if insurance can avoid paying, they will not pay

Posted Nov 19, 2014 on www.thestarphoenix.com

Kenneth Noble, a lawyer in Regina who specializes in insurance claims, said that if insurance companies could find a way to avoid paying a claim, they will not pay.

Noble spoke in connection with the case of the couple from Saskatchewan, Jennifer Huculak-Kimmel and Darren, who was charged with almost a million by a hospital in Hawaii where Jennifer had to prematurely give birth to their child while on vacation.

Jennifer was six months pregnant when she and Darren decided to take a trip to Hawaii. They signed up with Saskatchewan Blue Cross for their travel insurance but now the firm is refusing to pay their bill claiming she had pre-existing conditions.

Noble said the couple's case is the biggest so far that he has heard of.

According to the lawyer, aside from checking the authenticity of a claim, insurance firms also thoroughly evaluate a claim to check if there are ways for them to avoid paying the claim.

Noble added that in this case, the couple could get a lawyer who can investigate the claim then give the results to the insurance company.

If no deal is met, parties can exhaust all legal steps available with the final step being bringing the matter before the court.

Prison sentence for woman who stabbed to death another woman

Posted Oct 31, 2014 on regina.ctvnews.ca

Melanie Bird received a sentence of 12 years in prison after she submitted a guilty plea to manslaughter for the death of Heather Lavallee in 2013.

Bird was initially facing a murder charge but she was allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter, which is a lesser charge.

It was clear that Bird was remorseful of what she did by admitting the offence to the police immediately and writing an apology letter as soon as she was apprehended.

Bird was intoxicated when she entered a home where Lavallee was at in search for pills.

The two women got into an argument which ended with Lavallee sustaining several stab wounds that led to her death.

Regina criminal lawyer James Struthers, defending for Bird, said that his client had turned to drugs and alcohol after her mother died.

The sentence was a joint recommendation by the Crown and defence but Bird will only spend a little less than 10 years behind bars after she was credited for time spent in remand.

Woman gets conditional sentence for fraud

Posted Sep 18, 2014 on www.leaderpost.com

A gambling problem results to a conditional sentence for Yvette M. Kew, who submitted a guilty plea to a charge of fraud over $5,000.

Kew bilked $22,464.13 from former Lang Insurance where she was tasked with taking care of the wages of employees.

The sentence, wherein instead of jail, Kew will be allowed to serve her 15 months in the community, was a joint submission by the Crown and Regina lawyer Saul Schachter which the judge approved.

Kew was also ordered to pay back the full amount she had taken.

Aside from having no previous record, Kew did not deny when her employer asked her when he noticed the missing funds.

She also cooperated with the investigation.

Woman with mental problems spared dangerous offender designation

Posted Jul 25, 2014 on globalnews.ca

Judge Sheila Whalen opted not to hand down a dangerous offender designation to Marlene Carter, a mentally-ill woman, during the sentencing of her assault convictions.

Instead, Whalen handed Carter a six-year sentence, which she only has two years remaining to serve because she was also credited for time spent in remand.

Saskatoon defence attorney Jim Scott, Carter's defence counsel, said his client was glad that the judge did not agree with the Crown, otherwise she would have been incarcerated for the rest of her life.

Except for one, all of Carter's victims were employees at where she had been incarcerated.

For the moment, she will be placed in a prison in Saskatoon while Scott and others work to get her transferred to a facility meant for offenders whose mental illness is severe.

Canada Lawyer News

Vancouver lawyer overjoyed with decision against marijuana law

Vancouver lawyer Kirk Tousaw is very much pleased with Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan who decided that the law on marijuana is unconstitutional.

In his decision, Phelan said that not allowing medical users in getting marijuana from other than producers who are licensed is a violation of their charter rights.

Tousaw sees the decision as a milestone and a big boost for patients who are using cannabis as medication.

With the decision, the lawyer is urging Canada's Prime Minister to immediately stop criminally sanctioning patients using cannabis as a medicine, as well as those unlicensed providers.

According to Phelan, restricting the access did not lessen the risk to the patients' health nor did it make cannabis more accessible.

The judge, in his decision, called upon the Canadian government to make the marijuana law flexible so as to pave way for patients to grow their own marijuana for medical purposes.

Man refutes murder allegations

Posted Jun 29, 2015 on www.cbc.ca

Kevin Rubletz is denying that he had a hand in the death of his former girlfriend, Jessica Newman, whose body was found in May.

Newman was first reported missing in March before her body was found in a ditch.

Rubletz and Newman shared a child and had been reportedly locked in a custody battle.

Calgary criminal lawyer Brendan Miller is representing Rubletz, who is facing a second-degree murder in relation to Newman's death.

Miller said that he is still waiting for the disclosure from the Crown and that there is a possibility that his client will be seeking bail.

Cocaine turns out to be a dud

Posted Apr 03, 2015 on www.therecord.com

A drug charge against Shane Achilles was withdrawn after a powder seized from him and thought to be cocaine turned out to be Metamucil, a laxative.

With that, Achilles is set to get back about $2,000 that police seized from him believing the money was earned in a drug deal.

However, Achilles was not off the hook as he admitted to evading police who chased him. He also violated traffic rules in the process.

He submitted a guilty plea to driving while disqualified and failing to stop for police.

He received a 105 day-jail sentence and a three-year driving ban.

Kitchener criminal lawyer Hal Mattson, who defended for Achilles, said his client had an unsavory upbringing having been brought up by a single mother, who moved around Ontario a lot. Afterwards, he mostly grew up on the streets.

He had gone clean about five years ago but went back to using drugs last year.

Vancouver constable found guilty but also had his rights violated

Posted Mar 13, 2015 on www.nelsonstar.com

Stephen Todd, a former member of Vancouver police, has been found guilty of improperly accessing police database and giving information to his relative, who was under investigation.

However, Wally Oppal, who adjudicated the complaint against Todd, also dismissed accusations that Todd was being deceitful, displayed discreditable conduct and neglected bis duty.

Oppal slammed officers for denying Todd his right to get advice from a legal counsel or even from just the union during the time he was being questioned to obtain information about his relative.

Kevin Woodall, a lawyer in Vancouver, said Todd welcomes the decision and that he is happy to be absolved of the grave allegations.

Todd has been fired as a result of the deceitful accusations, which have now been dismissed.

The complaints against Todd stemmed from an incident in 2010 wherein Todd had accessed the police database to satisfy the curiosity of his family. It was then that he found out that one of his relatives was under investigation. Todd then accessed the database two more times.

However, according to Oppal, the way Todd was investigated was appalling wherein he was told that charges were ready to be filed against him. The investigators also resorted to fabricating a letter advising Todd that upon a judge's order, his personal communications were monitored.

High Court decides popular pizza chain can't end franchise

Posted Mar 11, 2015 on www.cbc.ca

The Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that Domino's Canada cannot end the franchise of a pizza store in North Vancouver based on an unproven accusation.

Domino's Canada had informed the francise operated by Farhad "Alex" Iranmanesh and Keyvan Iranmanesh that it is terminating its contract after conducting its own probe on allegations that the brothers have exploited two of their employees.

Dakota Gervais-Brulhart and Blake Dearman have filed a complaint that they weren't paid and when they did not go to work to protest the wrongdoing, they were assaulted and even received death threats.

The Iranmanesh brothers, however, claimed the allegations are still unproven and they asked for an injunction order to stop Domino's Canada from ending their franchise.

Other employees of the Iranmanesh brothers also denied the claims of the complainant employees.

The judge approved the order saying that Domino's Canada cannot end its contract with the Iranmanesh brothers based on allegations that have not been proven whether true or not.

The disgruntled employees vowed to stick to their claims while Domino's Canada also said it will fight the injunction.